April 25, 2011

Emanuel keeps City Colleges leadership

Rahm Emanuel is keeping some of outgoing Mayor Richard Daley's leadership team at the City Colleges of Chicago.

The mayor-elect announced today that Cheryl Hyman will stay on as chancellor and Martin Cabrera will remain board chairman. Emanuel said he is sticking with Hyman and Cabrera because he supports the City Colleges' "reinvention plan" that's being put into place.

"I am bringing the rest of the board to the table to double down," Emanuel said.

Emanuel did name several new trustees to the board that oversees the seven community colleges in Chicago.

New to the board is Ellen Alberding, the president of the Joyce Foundation, who will serve as board vice chairman; Charles Jenkins, pastor at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; Marisela Lawson, founder of management consultant the Sagence Group; Larry Rogers Sr., a trial lawyer; and Paula Wolff, the former president of Governors State University who is a senior executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020.

Staying on is Everett Rand, who is part owner of Midway Airport Concessions.

On other topics, Emanuel said he plans to announce a reorganization of City Council committees and has been working with aldermen on the issue. The mayor-elect also described his meeting with powerful 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke as "nice."

And Emanuel once again today defended his choice of Jean-Claude Brizard to lead Chicago Public Schools.

“Did he ruffle feathers? I sure hope he did,” Emanuel said of Brizard’s three-year tenure of the school district in Rochester, N.Y., where he was the target of least two federal lawsuits, including an ongoing discrimination case, as the Tribune reported last week.

Emanuel noted that Arne Duncan, the former CPS chief who is now the U.S. Secretary of Education, also faced similar lawsuits.

“The Secretary of Education Arne Duncan — similar lawsuit in his background. That comes with the territory of trying to make change when stakeholders realize that, you know what, they may not be the beneficiary anymore,” Emanuel said.

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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